carrot companion...

carrot companion...

Sat Mar 23, 2013 5:25 pm

Hey all, I was wondering what is good companions for carrots....I've currently got tomatoes surrounded by edamame so thats out of the question unless the living mulch effect I'm going for w/ the beans won't mess up the carrots....I've also got peppers, and squash in and will be doing okra. the okra plot has some shade in the mornings but gets a decent amt of sun in the summer...I am also probably going to get an early collard and kale crop in in the most shady area before it gets too hot..

Also how thick can I plant okra? I made the mistake of only canning a few jars last year to try them out and ended up eating all of them in one sitting. Thanks!

edit: I saw in the guide above they like peas....I don't know if they will do well w/ beans? If they will I"ll transplat between the edemame and tomoatoes if they will grow well in shade in our hot summers. We'll see!

Most root crops make good companions as long as they are properly spaced and have very nice loose soil to grow in. Most root crop seeds are very small so proper spacing is a challenge. There is always the temptation to just broadcast the seeds. I have found that it is worth the effort to plant seeds with mature spacing in mind. A little more work on the front end but a lot less on the back end. Also a better crop.
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Good luck

Elizabeth - or Your Majesty

Living and growing in Lafayette, La.

When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant. ~Author Unknown

I was reading about jerusalem artichokes as being a trellis for beans...I know okra would probably not be sturdy enough(at least the variety we planted in the past, next yr I might try cowhorn as I read it is sturdy). I've already planted the okra and until I add more space to my garden in the fall I have no room for the artichoke. I was wondering if I could use malibar spinach to grow up the okra?

I plant my okra 12"-18" apart in 2 rows spaced 18" apart. I also stagger the plants in the 2 rows. If you plant more than 2 rows I plant 2 rows 18" apart and then 2 1/2'-3' away from that I plant 2 more rows 18" apart. I always grow the clemson spineless and some do reach 7' tall but they always produce well no matter what I do to them as long as they get enough sun and heat.

Carrots do go with a lot. Good with onions as alliums confuse the carrot fly and carrots confuse the onion fly, how convieniant. Beans and other nitrogen fixators help with the added nitro carrots need. As stated radish sporut and shade the carrot plant as well as lossen the soil a bit which carrots need badly.

I will be dong a lot of companion planting this year, if nothing else but to save room. I have to many tomatoes.

I haven't found very many things carrots don't like growing with. Avoid planting parsnips close to your carrots, IMHO. When I have done this the carrots did fine, and the parsnips got huge tops, but had scrawny roots, for whatever reason. When I plant the parsnips on their own they've gotten much larger.